Varteg railway station

Varteg
General information
Location	Varteg, Torfaen Wales
Grid reference	SO267061
Line(s)	Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	London and North Western Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 May 1878 (1878-05-01)	Opened as Varteg
1933	Renamed Varteg Halt
5 May 1941 (1941-05-05)	Closed

Varteg railway station was a railway station which served the village of Varteg, in the county of Monmouthshire, on the Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway. Built by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) as an expansion to meet the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Abersychan and Talywain. It was sometimes referred to on old Ordnance Survey and British Railway Clearing House (RCH) as 'Varteg Halt', despite it having an extensive station building.

History

Opened by the Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway, it became part of the London and North Western Railway which through the connection with the Heads of the Valleys Line was able to take coal directly to destinations in the Midlands. The station closed in 1941[1] in the same year when passenger trains operated by the Great Western Railway ceased due to the exigencies of the Second World War.

The station site today

Although the line through the station site can still be traced on an OS map nearby Shop Road Bridge there is little left to show as the disused station building was later demolished by British Rail. Today, the line through the site is occupied by the National Cycle Route 46.

Reopening the station to the public has become one of the long-term ambitions of the heritage Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway, whom aim to reconstruct the station as part of the expansion plans.

References

1. Quick, M. E. (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 436. OCLC 931112387.

• R.V.J. Butt (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1
• A. Jowett (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas. Atlantic Publishing. ISBN 0-906899-99-0

External links

• Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway's overall development plan
• Remains of the station (December 1989)
• Remains of the station (March 2009)

51.74786°N 3.06605°W / 51.74786; -3.06605

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Blaenavon High Level		Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway		Garndiffaith